Photo by SeraphimC.

Society is moving toward going green, so doing your part is becoming more important than ever. People now have more ways than ever to help the environment, such as paying bills online to save paper. Many banks have given their customers the option of using prearranged automatic payments from bank accounts, debit cards and credit cards to handle anything from a car payment to Netflix subscriptions. Automatic bill pay takes the thought out of paying bills altogether, but it can also become a problem if you don’t keep careful tabs on your expenses.

Be smart about automatic payments. It’s smarter to use a credit card rather than debt or a bank account since you will be able to notice mistakes in your monthly statements and fix them before any money is taken from your account. Also, if you have a habit of keeping a low balance, overdraft fees will add up if you forget to keep track of your balance.

The MSN Money article, Perils of Automatic Bill Pay, says:

The best candidates for automatic-payment arrangements are those bills that are the same amount every month. They’re not as likely to be the source of contention or error.

But there can still be errors. Watch out for charging the wrong amount and double billing, the two most common errors. Skip auto pay for bills that change from month to month, like phone and utility bills. Read more…

Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past ten years, you know that there is a big movement out there to reduce the use of paper to help save the environment. Many companies, including banks and credit card companies, have provided their customers with ways to pay their bills online, thus curbing the mass quantity of account statements and bills they send out each month. If good karma and saving the planet isn’t enough for you to change your ways, here are a few more you may not have thought of.

Not only can you help Mother Nature but you can also make your life a little more convenient by going paperless. According to a 2007 report by Javelin Strategy and Research, the typical U.S. household sent or received an average of 26 bills, statements and checks per month in 2006. Instead of paying your 26 separate bills, one by one, you can pay them all online in a matter of minutes. Chances are your bank has online bill pay, but even if it doesn’t many credit cards and utility companies have online portals where you can sign on and pay. Read more…